COLUMBUS – Ohioans may be ready to travel again as more people become vaccinated against COVID-19 and health restrictions are eased, but there still won’t be as many hitting the road this Memorial Day as there were before the pandemic.
“Americans are demonstrating a stronger desire to travel this Memorial Day, and really throughout the summer,” Kimberly Schwind, senior public affairs manager for the AAA Ohio Auto Club.
The AAA predicts a significant rebound in travel this Memorial Day holiday weekend, but the number of Ohioans driving or flying to their destinations will still be well short of the level seen in 2019, Schwind said.
More than 1.7 million Ohioans will be among the 37 million Americans who are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home during the period May 27-31, which marks the unofficial start of summer for many.
That’s an increase of nearly 57% in Ohio but is still 14% lower than before the pandemic. There will be 229,000 fewer people on Ohio roadways and in airports than two years ago, Schwind said.
Only 23 million Americans, including a little more than 900,000 Ohioans, traveled during Memorial Day 2020, during the early phase of the pandemic.
“Those were the lowest numbers on record since AAA began recording holiday travel in the year 2000,” Schwind said.
According to the auto club, nearly 1.36 million Ohioans will drive to their destinations, 52% higher than last year but 9% less than in 2019.
The traffic tracking company INRIX predicts motorists will encounter the longest travel delays before the holiday weekend, particularly during the afternoons on Thursday, May 27 and Friday, May 28, Schwind said.
Nearly six times as many people will fly to their destinations than in 2020 but air travel number will also lag behind those of two years ago.